But he had not finished yet. He turned the rifle down into the dark gorge and pulled the trigger again. Whether he had hit anything or not he did not know.

"Look out for the soldiers!" bellowed a man, leaning over the edge of the precipice. "Run for it!"

Steve was bounding toward the end of the bridge.

The soldiers and the sheriff's deputies were coming up at a dog trot.

"Sh.e.l.l the gorge down there. They're trying to dynamite the bridge!"

Rush yelled.

A moment more and a volley of bullets from the rifles of the guardsmen raked the depths of the gorge with a hot fire.

The bridge was saved.

CHAPTER XXIV

CONCLUSION

A GREAT mob was packed in Liberty Hall later in the evening. There were no mutterings. The men were sullen and discouraged. Outside the hall was a platoon of guardsmen ready to fall in for whatever services might be demanded of them. The spirit of the striking men seemed to have been broken.

Three of the six who had gone down to plant the dynamite under the bridge had been killed by the fire of the guardsmen. Every shaft was guarded by armed men, with orders to shoot any man who approached the shaft after dark. The company was prepared to keep the siege up all winter if necessary, though they promised that, were the miners to throw out their leader and elect an honest man, the company might treat with them, looking toward a settlement.

The chairman rose. His face was solemn, but his eyes belied the solemnity of his face.

"My friends," he began, "the bosses have triumphed over us to-day, but we shall down them yet. I have a piece of news for you showing the trickery to which they have resorted. The men of the Blair Mine have gone back to work. The bosses have done this to tantalize you."

None thought how inconsistent this was. The men began to grow noisy and restless after this announcement.

"How do they go back?" shouted a voice.

"At the old terms," answered the chairman. "They gave it up."

"We'll keep it up! We won't give up till we starve!"

"No; down with the bosses! We should get guns and drive these troops, these hirelings, from the range. Arm yourselves, men, and a.s.sert your manhood!" cried another voice, that of one of the leader's lieutenants, though he made certain that only a few of those about him observed whence the words came.

Steve Rush and Bob Jarvis rose from the corner of the room near the stairway un.o.bserved. Steve jumped up on a window-sill, waving his hat to attract their attention.

"Men, men! Listen to me!"

There was a sullen roar when the miners discovered who it was, and the mob rose to its feet, surging toward Steve.

"Stay where you are if you value your lives. There are fifty rifles trained on this hall at this moment. The guardsmen will riddle you with bullets if you make a hostile move toward me."

The men hesitated.

"I am your friend, though you do not believe it. I will prove to you that I am. Listen to me, boys. Listen! That man," pointing to Cavard, "is a scoundrel. It is he who has led you on to this terrible strike. It is he who is to blame for the suffering of your families. I tell you I know this. I could prove it to you, but there are other things that you must know first."

"Speak out. We'll hear you," cried a voice.

"I am going to do so. Your leader has just told you, almost shedding tears as he did so, that the Blair Mine had resumed operations. But there was something else that he did not tell you. He did not tell you that he had had a conference with the owners of the mine, and that they had made a deal with him. Money is what Cavard has been working for--money and power. He's got the money now, and he doesn't care what becomes of you----"

"It's a lie!" shrieked the man Cavard.

"It is the truth. Men, Cavard was paid fifteen thousand dollars by an official of the Blair mine last night to call off the strike. I could give you the official's name. That fifteen thousand dollars was deposited in the bank here to-day. It is here, all here. I have the proofs. He is a traitor! He has sold you out at the expense of your families. Now, what are you going to do about it?"

With a howl of rage the men turned to the place where Cavard had been standing. But the man was gone. He had slunk out under cover of Steve Rush's thrilling speech never to be seen in the mining village again.

Steve had seen him go, but had not tried to detain him.

"What shall we do?" cried the men, when they discovered that their prey had escaped them.

"Call the strike off, here and now, and go to work. After all has quieted down again, reorganize your union if you wish, and put honest men at the head of it. I shall be with you heart and soul, if you are willing to do as I have suggested."

There was a moment of silence.

"Rush! Rush! Three cheers for the gamest, squarest boy on the iron range!" shouted a miner excitedly, as he sprang to a seat, waving his arms.

The audience rose as one man, and the building fairly trembled under their roars. They rushed toward the Iron Boys. Bob was caught in the crush and pushed half way down the stairs. But the men were not going to leave just yet. They were enthusiastically shouting the name of Rush.

Steve was caught up. His hat was lost, his coat was nearly ripped from his shoulders, and he was borne in triumph to the rostrum, where they tossed him up into the president's chair.

"You're the next president of the miners' union," they howled.

Steve raised a protesting hand.

"No, boys; you must choose an older man than I. You need level heads here. Besides, I may not be with you next year, but while I am here I shall work for your good. Good luck, boys! To-morrow you will go to work, and there will be happiness in your homes on Christmas Day."

The men had seated themselves again. But as Steve finished speaking a giant figure rose up directly in front of the platform.

It was Segunder Olsen.

"Whoop! Y-e-o-w!" howled the giant.

The strike was ended. As soon as Steve could get away he hurried to his room and went to bed. But his eyes were bright and his heart was full of happiness.

On the following day he was summoned to the main office of the company, with his companion. Each lad was handed a bank book by the president, after the latter had expressed his appreciation of their splendid work.

The bank books showed that Steve Rush and Bob Jarvis had a thousand dollars apiece placed to their credit in the bank.

Their work had been well done. They had done their duty, they had risked their lives and they had won. Their patriotism for the great industrial cause had carried them on to a triumphant success. Next season they were to try themselves out in new fields, where they were destined to distinguish themselves in a marked manner.

Their further experiences will be told in a following volume ent.i.tled, "THE IRON BOYS ON THE ORE BOATS; Or, Roughing it on the Great Lakes." In that new life the lads were destined to meet with even more thrilling experiences than they had had during their eventful career in the mines on the great iron range.

THE END